German Life and Manners as Seen in Saxony at the Present Day (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. OF THE ELEGANCIES OP LIKE IN SAXONY. The usual matutinal costume of the young ladies at home, consists of nothing but a petticoat, an old coloured chintz sleeping- jacket, without even stays or bodice beneath it, and a close-tilting calico nightcap, about as elegant in shape and look as that of a sick boy in a parish infirmary with us; while over their neck is spread any old duster-like rag with which they can cover their shoulders; their feet being thrust into such a pair of burst-out slip-shod shoes, as no decent person in our own country would pick up in the street. Nor must the reader imagine that the above picture of German ladies in their morning attire is in the least over coloured; or that we paint this universal portrait of the Saxon baronesses and gentlewomen, the young as well as old, as they are to be found at home in the morning?up to noon-day and even later?from the outward appearance of any one eccentric individual. On the contrary, we speak merely of what is the general custom, even with ladies of title, the wives of judges, and the female members of the families of government officers, and those of the professional gentry. Indeed, a German woman, no matter what her station, regards any old thing she can lay her hands on as fit to wear in the house; and believes that gowns and bodices, not to speak of clean cuffs and collars, are articles utterly superfluous for her to put on, in the presence of her husband and children! Nor can it be said that the harsh lines of this sketch are due to national prejudice; for it was only some twelve mouths or so back that there appeared a letter in one of the principal Berlin papers, written by a German, upbraiding his countrywomen for the shameless and dirty state of their persons in their own houses in the ear...